Water farcy is a warning which nature gives to human selfishness; it is, when rightly viewed, an intimation that, if the owner does not use the life intrusted to him more gently, the common parent will speedily take the sufferer to its rest. The complaint proceeds from debility; should the cause of exhaustion be continued, the affection soon changes its character. Water farcy is dropsy of one hind leg; very rarely does the malady involve two members. Such is the form of the admonition; but the labor undiminished, or the dropsy removed by means of coarse and drastic medicines, the local affection speedily becomes a constitutional disorder; and true farcy releases an ill-used slave from custody of the tyrant who has abused his power. Horses that are liable to water farcy are mostly of the heavy breed, or are animals which perform slow work. It is usual, on a Saturday night, for the driver to throw much provender before such creatures, and then to lock the stable door, satisfied he has discharged his duty. [Illustration: THE CARTER'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE STABLE ON A MONDAY MORNING.] Often he does not visit them on the Sunday; the creatures pass "the best of all the seven" confined in a close atmosphere, and eating food which they have contaminated by breathing upon. The man observes the day of rest himself, and takes his ease; for the "brutes" he has heaped up rack and manger--so they have to eat; what more can dumb animals require? Upon opening the door on Monday morning, he may see one horse with a swollen leg. The drudge generally, not invariably, is lame, and holds the enlarged member in the air; the coat stares; the aspect is dull; and much of the abundance which was placed before the animal remains untouched. The poor creature was too tired and in too much pain to eat; but agony has created a consuming thirst, and it will drink the foulest water. The horse doctor is sent for. In the opinions of veterinary surgeons there are two kinds of water farcy--one springs from debility, the other is accompanied with irritable symptoms. It, however, requires no vast knowledge of physiology to recognize debility and irritability as the children of one parent; indeed, most veterinarians admit the sameness in practice, however much they may dispute it in theory. They bleed, purge, and send in half a dozen diuretic balls, when, the swelling having been removed by such coarse measures, the horse, still further weakened, is once more put to its work.